I don't have the time to put together a build for you right now, but try looking at the prices on Memory Express and NCIX.com, sometimes they have better sales on hardware than newegg.ca does. Also, I remember seeing that the Antec 300 was on sale for about $20 the other day, can't remember where though.

Other than that, the only thing I see right now is that your mobo looks to be incompatible with the processor, the mobo you picked is 1156(intel i-series), you need something that is AM3. I have no idea what this generation's AMD processors are like personally, but general consensus it seems is that they're getting absolutely blown out of the water by their Intel counterparts.

I'm in no rush if you want to do that sometime when you get a chance that would be great. I have basically heard that AMD is the same except when it comes to gaming the intel blows it out of the water becasue of how most games ustilize the cores?

I'm not in any rush to make this build i want to understand more when i go through with it. so any and all information is useful

Intel no doubt blows AMD out of the water but only if you want a succession of better benchmark scores! What's wrong with AMD processors in the real world? They are more competatively priced and perfectly suited to gaming machines especially when on a budget.

I take it you're not into overclocking and is there a possibilty you may want to double up (SLI or Crossfire)on graphics cards in the future?

What resolution is your monitor?

A decent dual core like the i3-2120 would be perfectly fine for gaming and may free up funds for the gaming machine work horse, the graphics card.

this is the new build i put together, its has a core i3 sandy bridge, is this the best core i3 that can be bought? i was thinking i might overclock it too.

also do you know anything about this case? it seems awesome but its really cheap i thought so maybe there is something I'm missing?

also the video card selected is $279.99 is this the best card for the money? in that price range? or maybe you can suggest one that is basically going to be just as good but maybe som cheaper options? I dont have a monitor yet, I'm gonna use a shit one for a little bit and save for nice 27" or something but when i do buy one it will be a nice one.

oh yeah I would like the future capability of running duel graphics cards, but how does that work? like does adding basic graphics card to a really nice one is that going to do anything? or does it only make sense to run one equal? im guessing the motherboard i selected is not capable of this?

Yes that is the best i3 that can be bought atm. You will not be able to overclock it. This is because Intel limits overclocking on the 1155 Sandy Bridge platform to particular SKUs (none of those are i3s), and are denoted by the letter K at the end of the model number (for instance i5-2500K).Another factor in socket 1155 Sandy Bridge overclocking is that not all motherboard chipsets support overclocking. No H (H61, H67 etc) series chipsets do, only P67 and Z68.H series chipsets don't usually support multiple graphics cards either.

The Zalman Z11 Plus is as far as I can tell the same as the Z9 Plus, but with a different exterior. The Z9 plus received a number of favourable reviews so I don't see why the Z11 would be any different, apart from, hopefully, an improvement and $85 isn't really cheap.

Is there a motherboard that you can recommend that would better suit this assembly? Is there another i3 that can overclock? Is it worth it? Would it be Better to have 1 $300 graphics card then two worth $150? Is there a better set up in general u might suggest?

I've had my eyes on the 7770 ever since it came out, and by the looks of it they're all on rebate at NCIX right now. They're a good mid range card, but you want gaming ownage so I would stick with the 78xx series. Crossfire is kinda iffy, it depends on the cards you have, but to me there's no reason that 7770 x2 would be slower than a 7850, in fact it should be a little faster.

Heads up, that motherboard you linked is a m-ATX, let me tell you it's an absolute royal pain in the ass to get everything plugged in and powered up.

If you can afford it, this board is being used by quite a few people around here it seems, and it gives pretty good overclocking settings as well. If that's a bit out of your reach, try this board. Comes from a good maker and its at a pretty good price too.

And for my 2 cents for the processor go for the i5 2400, I don't think it's overclockable, but at least it's a quad. More and more new games are finding how to use the quad core processors so it should help you out in the futureproofing department.

Okay, that's not a huge jump for motherboard so maybe I'll grab that one I just heard Asus is the only way to go with motherboards. So it's even tho the i3 is 3.2 ghz, and the i5 is a 2.2 it is still better?

From my experience, yes, Asus and Gigabyte boards are the only way to go. Only reason I listed that Asrock board was because it has been used in quite a few builds that I've seen kicking around here from time to time.

The i5 is only 2.5ghz, but it can turbo boost to 3.3ghz. Remember that while the i3 works at a higher speed, it has less cores, which means that there's 4 threads due to the hyperthreading tech Intel uses in their processors, while the i5 has 8 threads. It may be at a slower speed, but more information is able to go through that processor at one time than the i3. And doing a quick google search shows that you can get a modest overclock on that i5 as well.

...which means that there's 4 threads due to the hyperthreading tech Intel uses in their processors, while the i5 has 8 threads. It may be at a slower speed, but more information is able to go through that processor at one time than the i3.

Ok I see what your saying that makes sense, I'm pushing my budget a little bit here now but it's good information, then I get to the point where I'm at $200 for a processor I might as well get the i5 2500k, for $30 more.. I have read online that people are reporting overclockinf that baby at over 4ghz. A guy at work is sellin some parts off his rig and he has got a 2500k, what is a reasonable price to pay for used processors? Online seems to be all over the map from some people think it looses a fair bit of value after used other saying that it's a new processor the tech is new so it's valued close to purchase price? What you think I should offer him?

No more than 200 even if it's new, unless the original warranty can be passed on to a new owner (you) after the resale. And if he's ever overclocked it, then that again reduces the price. And how old is it? If it's over a year old and it's been overclocked the whole time, I'd just buy a new one.

Would you buy the same car from a "sunday driver", or a "street racer"?

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